


Bucky, 2050

by vanillafluffy



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future, Future Fic, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-29
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:54:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26719372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanillafluffy/pseuds/vanillafluffy
Summary: A look at an older Bucky...and what his life is like in the year 2050. May grow into a longer adventure, if I can keep myself on track.Same verse as "The Endurance of Stars" in that it mentions Bucky's daughter.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4
Collections: Bite Sized Bits of Fic from 2020





	Bucky, 2050

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Brumeier](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brumeier/gifts).



March, 2050  
Zero three hundred hours., 30,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean

The flight from London to New York is boring. Amber Leigh Wong is sure she’s the only one awake, except maybe the pilots. Even the flight attendants are napping near their little galley. She prowls the aisles of the ultra-max jet, looking for a way to entertain herself. 

Amber Leigh has read all of the books on her tablet. She can’t play her favorite game without an internet connection. And since it’s the middle of the night and the middle of the ocean, there’s nothing to see outside the plane’s windows. During her exploration, she’s surreptitiously snagged several bags of snacks from the rolling service tray and washed them down with a can of pop that her mother would never allow her to have if she wasn’t asleep. 

In the first class cabin, a man is studying his tablet, a guidebook, by the looks of it. “Hello!” she greets him, glad to see someone else who’s as wakeful as she.

“Hello yourself,” he responds, looking her over. She stands as tall as she can; she’s almost eight and the tallest girl in her grade.

The man with the tablet is older than Amber Leigh’s dad, but not white-haired like Grandfather. His hair is a dark silvery color, like polished metal with just a few streaks of white at the sides. It’s pulled back in a braid that’s longer than hers. She’s never seen an old man with hair like that, and he’s wearing a pullover shirt printed with a kind of zig-zag pattern. Maybe he got it on holiday?

“Nobody else is awake,” she tells him, doing her best not to sound like a whiny kid. “Can I talk to you for a while? Please?” 

He has a whole row to himself in first class--he must be rich! He has a nice smile, not the pasted-on kind grown-ups get when they're trying to be polite.Anyway, he’s friendly; he folds up his tablet and tucks it into a pocket of his shirt. “Sure. I can practice my English on you., if that’s okay.”

He doesn’t sound like he needs to practice. There’s a tiny bit of an accent, but everybody has one of those from somewhere. “We were in London seeing Auntie Gemma,” she confides, settling into the aisle seat. “And we’re going to New York and then we’re going to Disney World!”

“That sounds like fun,” her new friend comments, nodding. “Where do you live?”

“In San Francisco, but we went to London for Auntie Gemma’s wedding.”

“Were you a bridesmaid?” He looks impressed--or at least interested.

“No, I was a flower girl. It was fun, and Auntie Gemma said I did a super job and gave me a necklace, see?” She shows off the little locket she hasn’t taken off except for baths.

“Very pretty. Did you have a good time in London?”

Amber Leigh likes the old man. He asks lots of good questions and doesn’t seem to mind that she’s talking too much. She tells him about London, and all the things her folks took her to see: palaces and museums and churches. Her favorite part was riding on the double-decker buses.

Then, because her mother has tried to get her to let other people talk, she asks him, “Where do you live?”

“In a country way off in Africa called Wakanda.”

Amber Leigh knows Wakanda is an important country. They do a lot of technical stuff there, her dad says. “Is that where your shirt is from?”

“Yes, it is. Do you like it?”

She thinks it over for a moment. Mummy says if you can't say something nice, don't say anything, but she doesn't want to hurt her new friend's feelings. She doesn’t care for the green background color, but the geometric design is cool. “The pattern is pretty. What do you do in Wakanda?”

“I have a farm.” He pulls his tablet back out, unfurls it and shows her some video clips. “These are my goats. I make cheese from their milk.” Baby goats are so cute! There’s a whole pen of them romping with each other in the video, and she watches, enchanted. Another swipe. Bigger goats, being rounded up by a big, shaggy dog. Amber Leigh likes dogs.

In the background, there’s a long, low house. “Is that a log cabin? Did you build it yourself?”

“Not quite--I had help building it. But it’s where I’ve lived since…” He pauses. “For a long time.”

“I’ve never been to a real farm, but we stayed in a vineyard in Sonoma for two weeks last summer," she says eagerly. "There were yummy grapes everywhere! Why are you going to New York? Who’s taking care of your goats while you’re gone? Or are they…” She tries to think of Mum’s word for it. “free range?”

“They have plenty of room to graze, and there’s a shepherd looking after them to make sure they have everything they need. My daughter is in New York. I’m going to see her.” Another picture, this time of a girl much older than Amber Leigh. 

“Did she grow up with the goats? Is she with her mum now?” Amber Leigh asks, studying the image of a slim girl with skin much darker than her father’s. She's probably old enough to be in high school.

The old man chuckles. “Yes, she grew up there. Now, she’s in school in New York. College.” He’s regarding the picture with a pensive expression, but then he smiles again. "I'd forgotten how many questions little girls can ask." 

"Do you miss her a lot? Is she going back home with you?"

“I miss her, but she’s a big girl now. She needs to learn that there’s more to the world than goats.”

Amber Leigh is about to tell him that she doesn’t see why he thinks he’d need to practice English--even the hint of an accent has disappeared while they’ve been talking--when there’s a soft chime, and the voice of one of the attendants announces, “Ladies and gentlemen, our pilot says we may be encountering some turbulence, please note that we’ve turned on the ‘Fasten seat belts’ sign. For your safety, please secure your seat belts at this time.”

“I should go--Mummy will worry,” Amber Leigh says. “It was lovely talking to you!!” And with that, she scampers back up the aisle, before the man from Wakanda can say anything.

Mummy is cross, so she doesn’t mention chatting up her fellow night owl. After all, what trouble could she possibly get into at 30,000 feet?

.


End file.
